If you're on Facebook at all you've probably seen an ad or a post from Postfly Box, or, maybe you're living under a rock and haven't heard of them. For those of you who are out of the loop, let's give a brief rundown of what Postfly Box is.

Postfly Box is a monthly subscription box that caters to the fly-fishermen of the world, a group that they endearingly refer to as tribesmen. If you're unfamiliar with the marketing structure of these monthly subscription services, here it is in a nutshell. A person signs up for the service that they want by a certain deadline, once that deadline passes your credit card is charged and subscriptions are sent out, all over the country and the world. For you National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation fans, think of the Jelly of the Month Club! There are subscription boxes that run the gamut of interests, from Star Wars to home crafts and everything in between.​Postfly Box is the one subscription box that caters to fly-fishermen. I stumbled across Postfly a while ago and never bit the bullet. First, I wasn't sure if I could convince my wife to let me spend the money monthly, second, I couldn't convince myself that I wanted what they offered. I liked their Facebook page and would constantly see their posts, jump to their page, and almost click the purchase button. Over time Postfly expanded and improved their services, to the point where I finally gave in.

From trout flies to strike indicators, Postfly really has a lot. Their subscription boxes currently include Trout, Steelhead/Salmon, Warm Water, and Saltwater fly boxes. Relatively recently, and the reason that I bit the bullet was the fact that, they introduced a fly tying box. A fly-fisherman has a lot of choice thrown their way regarding a subscription from Postfly. If you fish the saltwater flats they have something for you or if you chase Chrome they've got your hookup. You sign up for a box before the 15th of the month, on the 15th your credit card will be charged $19.95 (shipping is free in the good ole U. S. of A.), and then the good people over at Postfly get everything in the mail by the 20th. A few days, to about a week, later you get an awesome box in the mail. If you sign up after the 15th you will have to wait until the next month for your box. If you sign up for a box, let's say the Trout box, that option will continue to be sent to you every month unless you go back to their site and change your option, or cancel your service. Just remember, if you want to do either you must do it before the 15th of the month or that decision won't go into effect until the next month. You can also add on to your boxes as well. By beefing up your box, you can double, even triple, the amount of flies you get each month. Each beef up comes at a discounted price.​So what do you get, you're probably asking. I have had the opportunity to get two different fly tying boxes and one trout box. Each fly tying box came with enough material, and then some, to tie a specific number of flies. Both months focused on a different type of fly. The first box was the "Skull Daddy Crayfish" box and came with enough material to tie eight crayfish. The second box was their "Evolution Stonefly Prince Nymph" box, which they still offer for sale as an individual box that does not require a subscription (it was actually this box that pushed me to signing up). In this box was enough material to tie ten stonefly nymphs. In the trout fly box there was twelve different flies, all geared for catching trout. All of the boxes also came with some extra goodies. First, all boxes come with a newspaper-like advertisement that shows the contents of all the different boxes that were sent out that month, the fly tying instructions for that month's fly tying box, and also a page dedicated to one of the Postfly members-a nice nod to the customers. The crayfish box came with a Postfly printed American Bandana neck gaiter and the stonefly box came with some Postfly strike indicators. The trout and stonefly box both came with a fun Postfly stonefly sticker.​Postfly also offers individual good that can be purchased from their website, such as hats, shirts, stickers, leaders, strike indicators, etc.

Now that we've gone over what Postfly Box is, let's start with what I don't like about the boxes and then jump to the things that I do like.​Cons:

The fly boxes come with twelve different flies. Personally, I would rather have six different flies, two of each come in the box. Let's say that I open up my box and pull out the mayfly cripple pattern that came in it and the fish are biting on it. Suddenly I get it caught in a tree behind me and subsequently lose the fly. Now I don't have a similar fly in my box, unless I beefed up the subscription. I don't think the mouse pattern is going to help me out in that instance.

The lack of option when it comes to the fly tying box. Yes, the tying boxes are relatively new and hopefully we will see some options crop up in the future, but for right now it's fairly limited. If next month they choose to give everything to tie up a saltwater fly, a crab for instance, I will have no use for those flies cause I'm not getting out to the flats anytime soon. Hopefully in the future, if this style box is a hit, we will get options just like we do with the fly boxes.

Pros:

The fly boxes come with twelve different flies. When I opened the trout box and looked at what came in it, the first fly that stuck out to me was the mouse pattern. I'll be honest, most of the waters that I fish, and that we highlight here at Currant Creek Fly Co., don't really support a mouse pattern as a viable option to use. Instead of being frustrated that I got a fly I'll never use, now I need to go find some rivers where I can use that fly. Instead of limiting your fishing experience, maybe getting different types of flies will expand those experiences.

Quality. Everything that has come in the boxes had been high quality. These aren't $0.50 flies in the boxes, some of them run in the multiple dollar range of you were to buy them at your local fly shop. The materials that have come in the fly tying box is all high quality and durable.

Customer Service! To be completely honest, I was not suppose to get the trout fly box. I signed up for the tying box, received it and loved it. I then decided to separately order the stonefly tying box. Instead of the stonefly box, the trout fly box came in the mail. I sent off an email wondering if this was a mistake on my end and whether it was or not, that I was more than happy to send back the trout box and have the stonefly box sent back to me. Postfly responded quickly and said they would immediately send out the stonefly box and to keep the trout box. For me, crappy customer service can turn me off of a great product, and vice versa. This isn't a concern though, both product and customer service is top notch.

Goodies. While the primary purpose of these boxes are flies and/or tying material, the goodies that come with them have been fun and usable. It's been as exciting to see what the goodies are as it had been to see the flies or tying materials.

Conservation. In the trout and stonefly boxes came a sign up card for Trout Unlimited. I am a member of Trout Unlimited and love the work they do and am always impressed when a company not only supports conservation but actively encourages others to participate as well.

Overall, I have been thoroughly happy with Postfly Box. The pros definitely outweigh any of the cons (which are fairly subjective) and the services provided are top notch. If you like getting things in the mail, something akin to a small Christmas present every month, you will love Postfly Box. At the very least, try it for a month and see if you like it, if not you can always cancel your subscription. But my guess is, you won't have to worry about going down that road, you'll be satisfied.

Stoneflies are amazing monsters of the insect world. Upon stumbling upon a nymphal shuck drying out in the sun, if a person didn't know better, it’s possible that they might think that they stumbled upon an insect that could possibly attack them with a viciousness left only to junkyard dogs. However, this appearance is completely unfounded and in fact the Stonefly is completely harmless and beautiful in it's clumsiness. There are numerous species of Stoneflies, all of which are important to the fly-fisherman. Instead of giving a brief mention to all of them, or missing some of them, we'll introduce the Stonefly here and then add more articles for each species as we go along.All Stoneflies, from the Little Yellow Stonefly to the Salmonfly, are all members of the Order Plecoptera. Members of this Order can be found all across the globe, except for Antarctica, and their lineage descends from the age of the dinosaurs. The Stonefly is truly an ancient master of the streambed. As a result of their long, mostly unchanged lineage, Stoneflies are fairly intolerant of water pollution and their presence, or absence thereof, is an indicator of the water quality of each waterway.Most telling of a Stonefly is its wings, in fact the name Plecoptera is Greek and means “Braided Wing” and refers to the features of the wing and the many venations that run through the fairly opaque wing. Various species have evolved varying colors, but, with the exception of a few species, all have large wings that lay flat along the body. For many, though, the wings have become nearly useless and when they are used the Stonefly is clumsy under its own weight. Common characteristics of the nymphal stage include two claws at the end of each leg, two sets of wing pads, two short-heavy tails, two antennae, and they look fairly armor plated. General adult characteristic include two claws at the end of each leg, two pairs of wings held flat over the abdomen when at rest.

The female can lay between a hundred to thousands of eggs, depending on the species. The female clumsily flies over the water and lays an egg sac containing those eggs. The eggs will hatch anywhere between two to three weeks. Once hatched, each species lives differently in the river, larger species nymphs live in the fast riffles of the water where there is a lot of oxygen. Due to their environment, many are knocked loose and into the current where they are vigorously taken by fish in the river. Smaller species will burrow into the river bottom and rarely are they available until they come out to emerge. Each species aquatic life cycle is different, the nymphal stage can last from one to four years.When it's time to emerge as an adult, the vast majority of Stoneflies migrate to the shore, climb out onto the rocks along the shore, and emerge from their nymphal shuck in the open air. During a "hatch" of stoneflies, the migrating stoneflies are vulnerable but their actual emergence is safe from attack. Not until the female, heavy laden with eggs, returns to the water to lay them, the adult Stonefly is also safe from attack.Stoneflies are amazing bugs that, like their primary predator, are great indicators of the quality of water that we are fishing. If the old saying, "Big fish need big food" is true, then using a Stonefly is the key. As always, Good Luck and Guid Luck!Sources: